| 31 July 2010
Chris Harris
Shortly after their run to Super Bowl XLI, the Bears had a decision to make: there were simply too many safeties on the roster, and someone had to go. Harris was the odd man out, shipped to the Carolina Panthers, where he continued to excel in the secondary. In 2007-08, he forced an impressive eight fumbles. Two years later, Harris returned to the squad that drafted him in hopes of stabilizing a position that’s been in flux since he left.
Reports during minicamp had Harris running with the first team at free safety, a change from his usual position of strong safety. But his veteran experience should allow him to fluctuate between the FS and SS roles without much difficulty. Should another player assert themselves in the FS position—such as Danieal Manning or Major Wright—expect Harris to slide back into the SS role. A solid supporter in the run game and a sure tackler, Harris would thrive as a strong safety, but he also has the ball skills and football IQ needed to navigate free safety. His speed falls short of other defensive backs, but he makes up for it by consistently being in the correct spot.
Expect Harris to be the most consistent—but not necessarily spectacular—secondary performer in 2010, and his leadership should help bring some stability to a defensive backfield that could show its inexperience this season.
Charles Tillman
I was in attendance at the Bears/Vikings matchup in 2003 when Charles Tillman sealed a 13-10 Chicago victory with an incredible interception—ripping the hands of the hated Randy Moss, who was in the prime of his career. Since then, the career of “Peanut” has been a series of jaw-dropping highs and hair-pulling lows.
Tillman’s biggest attribute has been his knack for forcing fumbles. In 2009, he caused six balls to hit the turf, a new career-high. His skill set has been a perfect match for the Cover-2 defense, as a physical corner who’s not afraid to jam opposing receivers at the line of scrimmage. But all that physicality has forced Tillman to miss numerous games with injury in the past few seasons, and entering the 2010 season—his eighth—health is the primary concern for Peanut.
In a move signaling both Tillman’s age and injury history, the coaching staff moved Peanut to right cornerback, effectively making him the No. 2 corner on the defense. Much like Harris, Tillman possesses a strong football IQ that will often have him in the right position, but his lack of speed often find him overmatched against faster receivers. Tillman is a serviceable player, but will certainly struggle against the league’s elite (see: Larry Fitzgerald in 2009). But his penchant for forcing fumbles and ability to match up with big receivers will keep him in the starting lineup for 2010, provided he can stay healthy.
Zackary Bowman
In his rookie season of 2008, Bowman endeared himself to the coaching staff by shaking off a painful injury to return to action against Minnesota, and sealed the game with a fourth quarter interception. After the game, further tests revealed Bowman tore his bicep, forcing him to miss the rest of the season. He responded in the next season with a team-high six interceptions, moving into a starting lineup in the Bears’ secondary.
The 2010 season figures to be an even bigger test for Bowman, who steps into the left CB role, making him the No. 1 corner on the Bears. Despite last season’s turnover numbers, Bowman is largely unproven at the NFL level. It’s yet to be seen if Bowman can handle the elite receivers in the league, and he’ll certainly get his share just facing teams in his division, where Green Bay’s Greg Jennings and Detroit’s Calvin Johnson loom on the schedule in four games. Minnesota’s trio of Percy Harvin, Bernard Berrian and Sidney Rice will also command Bowman’s attention.
It’s a large leap for the Bears to name Bowman the team’s top CB, given his lack of experience. The coaching staff appears to have a lot of faith in the third-year corner, but it’s hard to say if that faith is justified. Should Bowman prove to be worthy of his new position, then the Bears defense will be that much better because of it. If not … well … let’s just hope that Julius Peppers can get to the quarterback before anything bad happens.
Major Wright
From the day he was picked in the third round, Wright has been penciled in as the hopeful safety complimenting Chris Harris in the Bears defensive backfield. Right now he’s running as a strong safety, but the ideal scenario for Chicago has Wright earning the role of free safety, allowing Harris to slide back to his normal position of strong safety.
At Florida, Wright was often the lone safety in the Gators’ Cover-1 scheme, which meant he was responsible for any kind of deep passing play. That bodes well for Wright’s transition to the Bears Cover-2, which will often put him in the same situations. This sentence from CBSSports.com’s profile on Wright could be music to the ears of any Bears fan: “Experienced and alert in zone coverage.”
Other scouting reports and player profiles on Wright appear to say the same thing: he’s at home playing zone coverage. It sounds good early for Wright, but he’ll have to prove those predictions on the field before earning the starting role.
Let’s hope that his zone coverage turns out better than Danieal Manning’s efforts on a certain play during the first quarter of Super Bowl XLI.
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